US soldier killed in Afghanistan, says Nato

KABUL/HERAT: A US service member was killed in action in Afghanistan on Saturday, Nato said, in a Taliban-claimed attack that comes as America tries to forge a peace deal with the insurgents. The soldier is the 10th member of the US military to be killed this year — compared to 12 in all of 2018.“The name of the service member killed in action is being withheld until 24 hours after notification of next of kin is complete,” Resolute Support, the US-led Nato mission in Afghanistan, said in a statement. Nato did not provide any details about the incident for which the Taliban claimed responsibility.They said they had blown up an “American tank” in the Sayed Abad district of Wardak province. The US does not use tanks in Afghanistan. The insurgents, who frequently exaggerate claims, said two US “invaders” were killed and three wounded. Two US troops were killed in the same area last month in another Taliban-claimed attack, while the US and Afghan forces continue to conduct daily operations against the insurgents. The US now has some 14,000 troops in Afghanistan — down from a peak of around 100,000 — most of them deployed to train and advise Afghan counterparts.Separately, attackers entered a hotel in western Afghanistan on Saturday and killed at least three security forces in an ongoing incident, an official told AFP. The attack was under way in Qala-e-Naw, the capital of Badghis province, having started around 12:40 pm when a group of men, some wearing suicide vests, entered the hotel.“The attackers have entered a hotel, they are exchanging fire with the security forces,” Aziz Bek, the head of the Badghis provincial council, told AFP. “So far, three security forces have been killed, two wounded.”He added that children had been evacuated from nearby schools, and that explosions could be heard in the city. Nasrat Rahimi, an interior ministry spokesman, said a group of suicide bombers had entered a hotel and were shooting civilians. Police had surrounded the building, he added. Haroon Amir, a witness, said the attackers first hit a police checkpoint and then entered the hotel. “The hotel is near the police headquarters and they are exchanging fire with the police,” Amir told AFP. “Two big explosions have been heard in the city so far.”No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which comes amid daily carnage in Afghanistan despite a US-led push for a deal to try to end the war.

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